I love getting back to my painting roots. I first fell in love with art (drawing and painting) before I ever started into Graphic Design. In fact, in College I double majored in Graphic Design and Fine Art. So painting has always been really close to my heart. And I love it when I get the time to create new work. I want to share with you a really easy technique that I think you will really love to try as well.

I absolutely love the simple yet dynamic effect of this art piece. It is sooo easy. It literally took me only a few minutes to complete from start to finish. I used images from magazines but i think it would be AWESOME if you were a photographer and used this technique to display hints of your photos in your office or studio. I think that would be a KILLER and unique way to showcase your work…. Without being to cheesy…. ya know? Or it would be a really artsy way to use your family photos as well. I don’t really have pictures of me and Brian around the house… So might consider doing something like this with our photos. Without blabbing on, below is the HOW-TO.
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Gift wrapping is an interesting design process. It’s interesting because the gift giver wants to create a special experience for their friend and although “presentation is EVERYTHING” (and I believe it is) the presentation gets shredded in a matter of minutes. It’s not left for someone to enjoy… or hang on their wall. It’s torn open and bypassed to get to the “good stuff” on the inside. Because the presentation is only temporary, I think it’s wise to make good use of your time… while also giving a heartfelt experience. Choosing a gift wrapping technique that is pretty, easy, personal, inexpensive, and quick creates the best outcome all around.
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Yesterday my project manager/assistant Alex and I got together for our annual reflecting and planning retreat for Promise Tangeman Creative. I Love that Alex puts this together for us…. Cause honestly I probably would not. But this has helped me realize how important it is for your sanity and for the business to be reflecting & planning. It really helps to take a step back and look at the big picture of your business. I think so many times we can just ride the wave wherever it takes us….then at the end of day you don’t have a business that you WANT to be a part of… and instead of you running your business…. It RUNS YOU! This process really helps us stay on top of things and thinking clearly about the direction of where we want to go, who we want to work with, and the people that we want to become both personally and professionally.

1// IDENTIFY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
One of the first things we tackled was identifying all the accomplishments from this past year. We looked at what we spent our time on, how we did it, and even what some of our favorite highlights were. During this past year we Designed 16 custom projects, Art Directed & collaborated with 6 graphic designers, had 686 graphic design inquiries, developed an e-course, launched a graphic design reel, spoke at 4 conferences, had surgery to remove half of my thyroid, was a speaker on an 18 city / 6 week speaking tour around the country, Launched 2 collections of Site House website designs, went to contract with a developer to customize our SiteHouse Showit Websites, designed our first ever 160 page magazine, finished & launched our first big celebrity client (blog post coming soon), and took a week vacation to Hawaii.
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It has definately been a long time coming. So, I am excited to announce that the Messy Bun Hair Tutorial is finally up. This video will show you my process of how I create and wear my signature messy bun. I hope you enjoy it and maybe get to try a new look for yourself. Let me know if this was helpful at all and I will work on posting more hair tutorials.
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Owning your own business means that you are in charge of determining your schedule and what you do everyday. And even though that sounds AMAZING there are some challenges…. because well, as an artist we can be swayed with what INSPIRES us or only end up doing things the we WANT TO DO at the moment. That will only last so long until you realize that you can’t have a successful business just doing what you want when you want to do it. Haha So becoming your own boss also means that you have to CRACK down on yourself to do the things that will move your business forward…. even if you don’t FEEL like doing it at the moment.

I LIKE LISTS
Thats where for me… prioritizing to-do lists have really helped me keep on track!! I am a very visual person, so I get EVERYTHING out of my brain and jotted down. That includes all of my ideas, thoughts, projects, deadlines, and to-dos. My brain is already overloaded with stuff so I don’t want to waste my time, energy, and brainpower trying to REMEMBER what all I have to do. I would rather use that brain power to actually DO THE WORK. I have spent a lot of time over the years perfecting my to-do list process. I used to write my to-do lists on pieces of paper… but then I would loose the papers and have to re-write the list… OR I would scratch something off the list and have to re-write the entire list (can you say OCD?). This can then start to be a big time waster. Below are some ways that I found success with to-do lists.
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Last year I shared a gift guide full of gifts that giveback to social justice projects, and this year it’s back by popular demand. Let me tell ya, that’s music to my ears because there are SOOOO many great companies out there that are not only designing RAD products but they are making a positive difference in world while doing it. That’s something that I believe in as a business owner, and that I challenge anyone else reading this that own their own too. What ways can you give back not just for Christmas, but year round?!

Get inspired and in the Christmas gift giving spirit with some of these world changing gift ideas!

1 // FashionABLE scarves – FashionABLE makes scarves for kids, women and men in almost every color you can think of. fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty.  So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs for women, and then they send the profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women!

2 // Hello Somebody watches – Hello Somebody creates the coolest looking watches in so many bright, eye-popping colors. They are great for guys and gals, and the perfect gift for those that are always late like me. haha! BRian, my husband has a few and he ALWAYS gets compliments on them. The company’s overall mission is to feed and educate children, by providing an avenue of knowledge, in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger within their generation. Every purchase you make goes toward that cause, and you can go above and beyond and donate more too!
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Everyone likes to hear about new things. Especially from like minded people who like similar things. So, lets hear from you….do one or all of the following. 1. Link to a cool new website or company that you have found or like. 2. Give a shout out to an inspirational person or blog that you follow. Sound interesting? I am looking forward to clicking around.

Oh…Thats a picture of me kissing you for linking to amazing things. Happy Monday!!! IT’S MONDAY!! Lets make it a sharing, good, inspiring, and fresh Monday!

Oh…And I am not sure if you have noticed but I changed the blog categories around a bit. And there is a new category called “Reader mixer”. Yep!! Thats where I post things that you guys can MIX about and get to know each other. I was thinking the other day that I know a lot of really cool friends that don’t know each other… and then I thought about the blogging community. “Birds of a feather flock together” and I am SURE that you guys are all cool, doing amazing creative things, and you should know each other too. Thats why I made that category. Have fun. And don’t forget to post cool links in the comment section.

Love ya!

It’s sooo bad for you… But it’s sooooo good! How can something so good be so bad?!?! I was pretty stoked this *Thanksgiving* that I actually made something and contributed to the never ending feast of *thankfulness*. I am very *thankful* to our neighbors for sharing this amazing recipe with us. Brian and I went over for dinner one night when they made this for dessert. OH MY OH MY!! It was the talk of the night. And when I heard about how easy it was I decided to give it a try this year as one of the thanksgiving desserts at Brian’s family’s house. and AGAIN it was a hit there as well. I guess I will consider this my first holiday “dish”. So excited to be able to contribute now as a real woman. haha. Just kidding (but kinda not). Below is the recipe if you want to give it a try. I will probably making this for christmas too. So WATCH OUT!
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The house was decked with gold streamers, colorful confetti, beards, great friends, and GOOD food. I was pretty nervous considering I am not Susie Homemaker and I consider myself a terrible host. But with some help of some great friends I pulled off a surprise 30th birthday party for my husband Brian. I can’t believe he’s 30. He had NO idea and I was completely surprised that he was surprised. haha. I am very thankful that he was traveling in the beginning of November so I was able to sneak a few trips and planning dates in when he was gone. His parents came out to visit us and I told Brian that I was helping my assistent, Alex, get her house ready for her “open House” on saturday. His parents said they wanted to see her home and meet Alex too. So they brought him at 7:30pm. Little did he know that it was his surprise party. And SURPRISE!!! Check out the video above of the surprise moment. It was pretty epic.
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As I watched the tide rise up and fall back I saw similarities with the ocean and my life. I went where the tide took me and now it’s time to reevaluate.

We took a vacation. Because, although we have done a lot of traveling this year… it has all been stress or work related. So this trip was the opposite. We went to Hawaii for a week. Yes, that’s where I have been. And I have not hated any part of it. It was so good for us. To just relax and let our minds go blank. It’s hard to do that, if you are like me. My mind is always spinning. I like a challenge. I like to be doing something. And I like to feel like I am figuring something out.

But sometimes when your mind goes blank for a while… your soul starts to reboot and you begin to see the big picture again. I feel like I saw that this week. The big picture. I was inspired and rejuvenated. And I don’t think you need to go on vacation to see that but that’s where I was reminded this week. I was able to free my mind and dream a little too. I thought about ideas that before had seemed too heavy or undo-able. But this time I saw them in a new way. A lighter way I guess.
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I am REALLY excited to be participating in the Thirst Relief Mentor Auction this year. Thirst Relief is a non profit that has set out to “overcome death and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated water by providing safe, clean drinking water to those in need around the world.” These people have thought of a brilliant way to bring awareness AND provide a way for us to HELP (and give back) with our careers, passions, and skills. The Mentor Auction will start on the 14th and go through the 17th. You will be able to bid on a 90 minute session with a mentor of your choice/field and the highest bidder wins the session.
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Yesterday I was task girl. Task girl is a refresh compared to hermit-working-on-long-projects-alone-girl. Have you felt the difference? HAHA! I like both girls but sometimes task-girl just needs to do more. Task girl is emails, phone calls, to-do lists, errands, meetings, tweets, facebooks, art direction, blogs, test prints, UPS… you get the idea. Yesterday I had 2 creative meetings IN REAL LIFE…. Can you believe it?!!? HA! and eerands for the rest of the day. Ahh nice!! It was a nice fall day with some sun (apparently I was also a weather caster(sp?) anyway…. This is what I wore. The tomboy look has always run in my blood for as long as I can remember…. and it’s days like yesterday where I felt MA style ROOTS. haaha. BUT…the bad to the bone look in these… Melissa Jill jokes that I am a lot “sweeter” in person than I look in photos. I guess it’s just my bad to the bones insides that desperately want to make their presence known somewhere. hahhaa.
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